Torsten N. Wiesel
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
Torsten N. Wiesel was born and grew up near Stockholm, Sweden, the youngest of five children. His father was a psychiatrist at Beckomberga Hospital, a mental institution comprising 30-40 fenced acres, and the whole family lived in the compound, as did other staff members and their families. Wiesel attended a private school in Stockholm, but was more interested in soccer and orienteering than studying. When he was in his teens his parents divorced, and he decided to become a doctor. He attended medical school at Karolinska Institute and worked there for a few years before coming to the United States as a postdoc in Stephen Kuttler's lab at Johns Hopkins University. There he worked on epilepsy. One of his brothers had become schizophrenic; this, along with his frustration with the lack of insightful care for the mentally ill in the 1940's and 1950's, prompted Torsten's interest in neuroscience. Working in Kuttler's lab with Kenneth Brown, he dealt with retinal ganglion receptive fields/responses to light stimulation, using cats and monkeys as his lab animals. David Hubel arrived at Hopkins, and the two men began a very long collaboration that in 1981 garnered them the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Eventually, after moving through several departments at Harvard University, Wiesel ended up in the neurobiology department, where he ultimately became the chairman. In 1983, after Torsten had been chairman for ten years, he and Charles Gilbert, with whom he was then working, moved to Rockefeller University. There he became chairman of the faculty, and was thus asked to be president when David Baltimore resigned. Wiesel brought together again the disillusioned faculty and, with a substantial gift from David Rockefeller, recruited more good scientists. He now spends some time in Sweden, where he visits his two sisters and one brother twice a year, and in Strasbourg, where he is Secretary General of the Human Frontier Science Program. He has many professional affiliations and directorships; he has won many, many awards, and he has published much.
Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Karolinska Institute | MD | Medicine |
Professional Experience
Karolinska Institute
Johns Hopkins University
Harvard Medical School
The Rockefeller University
Honors
| Year(s) | Award |
|---|---|
| 1969 | 1967 Honorary AM, Harvard University |
| 1971 | The Dr. Jules C. Stein Award, Research to Prevent Blindness |
| 1972 | The Lewis S. Rosenstiel Prize, Brandeis University |
| 1972 | Ferrier Lecture, Royal Society of London |
| 1975 | The Friedenwald Award, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology |
| 1976 | The Grass Lecture, Society for Neuroscience |
| 1977 | The Karl Spencer Lashley Prize, American Philosophical Society |
| 1978 | The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, Columbia University |
| 1979 | The Dickson Prize, University of Pittsburgh |
| 1980 | The George Ledlie Prize, Harvard University |
| 1980 | Society for Scholars, Johns Hopkins University |
| 1981 | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 1982 | Doctor of Medicine (honoris causa), Linkoping University |
| 1982 | Doctor of Medicine and Surgery (honoris causa), Ancona University |
| 1982 | Doctor of Science (honorary), University of Pennsylvania |
| 1983 | William D. Stubenbord Visiting Professor, Cornell University Medical College |
| 1987 | Doctor of Science (honorary) University of Bergen, Norway |
| 1989 | Doctor of Medicine (honorary), Karolinska Institute |
| 1990 | Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Johns Hopkins University |
| 1992 | Doctor of Science (honorary), Harvard Medical School |
| 1993 | Doctor of Science (honorary), University of Connecticut, Storrs |
| 1994 | Doctor of Science (honorary), Ohio State University, Columbus |
| 1995 | Doctor of Science (honorary), State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York City |
| 1995 | Doctor of Science (honorary),Wesleyan University |
| 1996 | Doctor of Science (honorary),University of Arizona, Tucson |
| 1996 | Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research |
| 1998 | Presidential Award, Society for Neuroscience |
| 1998 | Doctor Honoris Causa, Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Alicante, Spain |
| 2003 | Doctor of Science (honorary), Rockefeller University |
| 2004 | Doctor of Science (honorary), Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic |
| 2004 | Doctor of Science (honorary), Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine |
| 2005 | Institute of Medicine David Rall Medal |
| 2005 | National Medal of Science, USA |
| 2006 | Spanish National Research Council, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) Gold Medal |
Table of Contents
Early program attempting to link basic science with clinical neuroscience. Beginning Latin American Scholars Program with Rebecca W. Rimel. Discussion of MD/PhD programs. Philosophy of global cooperation in science. Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) to promote this philosophy. Following Joshua Lederberg as Chair of Advisory Committee for Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences. Details of selection of Scholars
Various foundations' funding policies. National Institutes of Health funding requirements. Wiesel's theory that too much money leads to mediocre science. Political pressures on government funding. Measuring the success of a program. Promoting research rather than a project. Tension for a young scientist between building his reputation and exploring new fields.
Grew up near Stockholm, Sweden, in mental hospital compound, where hisfather was psychiatrist. Liked soccer and orienteering. Parents divorced when Torsten in midteens, and he decided to become a doctor so as to be able to support himself. One brother's schizophrenia led to interest in neuroscience. Also interested in politics.
Matriculated at Karolinska Institute. Lived Spartan life. Lack of good treatment for mentally ill in 1940s and 1950s led to desire to study neuroscience. Research in Einar Bohm's lab at Uppsala Universitet, studying epilepsy.
Recruited by Stephen Kuttler at Johns Hopkins University, where he worked on retinal ganglion responses to light stimulation. David Hubel came to Kuttler's lab, and the two began a long collaboration. Both went to Harvard. Wiesel changed departments, worked with Hubel all along. Then Wiesel moved to neurobiology, where he eventually became chairman. In 1981 the two won theNobel Prize.
With Charles Gilbert Wiesel moved to Rockefeller University, later succeeding David Baltimore as president. As well as chairing the Pew Scholars program, he now works for Human Frontier Science Program, based in Strasbourg, France, and travels to Sweden to visit two sisters and one brother.
About the Interviewer
Arthur Daemmrich is an assistant professor in the Business, Government, and International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School and a senior research fellow at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. His research examines science, medicine, and the state, with a focus on advancing theories of risk and regulation through empirical research on the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and chemical sectors. At HBS he also plays an active role in an interdisciplinary Healthcare Initiative, advancing scholarship and developing applied lessons for the business of creating and delivering health services and health-related technologies. Daemmrich was previously the director of the Center for Contemporary History and Policy at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. He earned a PhD in Science and Technology Studies from Cornell University in 2002 and has held fellowships at the Social Science Research Council/Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the Chemical Heritage Foundation. He has published widely on pharmaceutical and chemical regulation, biotechnology business and policy, innovation, and history of science.
David J. Caruso earned a BA in the history of science, medicine, and technology from Johns Hopkins University in 2001 and a PhD in science and technology studies from Cornell University in 2008. Caruso is the director of the Center for Oral History at the Science History Institute, president of Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region, and editor for the Oral History Review. In addition to overseeing all oral history research at the Science History Institute, he also holds an annual training institute that focuses on conducting interviews with scientists and engineers, he consults on various oral history projects, like at the San Diego Technology Archives, and is adjunct faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, teaching courses on the history of military medicine and technology and on oral history. His current research interests are the discipline formation of biomedical science in 20th-century America and the organizational structures that have contributed to such formation.